Commentary

Invest in women

Commentary: Women need capital, training, access

By

ThomasKostigen

SANTA MONICA, Calif. (MarketWatch) — In the developing world, women have a critical stake in survival. And it turns out that investing in women is a good bet for a number of reasons.

“We know that women are critical to economic growth and community stability,” the organization Business for Social Responsibility says in a report, Investing in Women’s Economic Empowerment. “Research has also shown that women earning an income are more likely than men to invest in the education, nutrition, and health of their children. Women are also more likely to save and contribute to broader livelihood improvement in their communities. These contributions are especially relevant in developing countries where women represent an increasing force behind social and economic development.”

Women in these countries are in dire need of access to capital, business training, access to markets, and access to technology and infrastructure.

Considering that 70% of the world’s hungry are women and that two-thirds of the 750 million illiterate adults are women, investing in women can create a major social impact. Besides, the ensuing financial benefits are robust.

Many impact investment funds single out women-themed investments. And certainly there are plenty of women-owned enterprises listed on investment platforms such as Kiva.org and Microplace.com.

Take this example from Kiva: Thirty-year-old Norovsuren lives with her daughter and disabled brother in Uvurhangai Province, Mongolia. Having started her garment retailing by selling socks in the streets in 1999, she now owns two counters in the province’s biggest market. Well-known and well-experienced, Norovsuren is a sharp and hardworking woman who says, “I started my business from scratch. I worked hard to go this far.” Now that winter is approaching, she needs warmer clothes to sell and is requesting $1,950 to buy more garments.

It’s obvious the individual effect an investment can have, but with women at the helm it seems the social impact is even greater.

Meanwhile, Maplecroft, the U.K.-based risk analysis firm, is releasing a new Women’s and Girl’s Rights Index, which assesses the protection of human rights, such as sexual violence, discrimination, trafficking and sexual exploitation, in 197 countries.

The index reveals that the rights of women and girls are at “extreme risk” in just over 40% of the countries assessed (88 in all), while only 5% rank in the low-risk category.

At the opposite end of the scale, only 5% of countries rank in the low-risk category, including: Denmark, Belgium, Sweden, Canada, and New Zealand. However, even in these countries, some issues persisted, including honor-related crimes and forced marriage.

The index also shows minor improvements for the protection of women and girls globally. Fewer countries, 144 compared to 156 last year, ranked in the “extreme” and “high risk” categories, representing an 8% annual decrease. However, according to Maplecroft, this only reflects a minor improvement and widespread violence and discrimination continues to be a major issue throughout the emerging and developing economies.

Complicity with the abuse of women’s and girls’ rights in fast-growing emerging economies pose particular risks to global companies, as this is where they must do business in order to flourish, Maplecroft notes. These economies include: Nigeria, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Philippines, China, Egypt, Mexico, Russia, Indonesia, India, and Turkey, all of which are rated “extreme risk” in the WGRI.

Risks of complicity in violations committed by state security forces or other actors in these countries include sexual violence, discrimination in employment, child labor, trafficking and sexual exploitation, Maplecroft reports.

“Achieving gender equality is a basic human right and a crucial part of development,” states Maplecroft analyst Siobhan Tuohy-Smith. “Responsible businesses can play an important part by identifying and mitigating these risks in their supply chains through the monitoring of human rights and instigation of due diligence processes. They can also actively work with civil society, international organizations and governments to support the delivery of projects advancing and protecting women’s and girl’s human rights.”

Engendering women’s rights can begin with investing in women-owned businesses.

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